


The Day They Fall

by Hakushaku13



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst and Feels, Family Drama, Gen, Headcanon, Siblings, Spoilers, i try my best, none-14th WoL
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-21 06:54:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21070724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hakushaku13/pseuds/Hakushaku13
Summary: Every utopia have to fall.Amaurot. Glorious city. Inhabited by wise and kind people, spending their days in phylosophical debates and giving birth to new creations.But what will they do when an impending Doom will fall upon them, threatening their own existence?And will rewriting the laws of reality be such a wise solution?





	1. A Guest

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! ^^'  
So what are you looking at? A bunch of headcanons, really.  
A story of ancient times when Warrior of Light was just Dionysus - a younger brother of honorable Emet-Selch.

Amaurot.

The beautiful and peaceful city, home to kind and creative people. It never knew violence or hate, conflicts were rare and solved in civilized discussions. Wise and calm, the citizens of Amaurot were working together on guarding the star and its lesser inhabitants. And so it was for thousands and thousands of years, and it seemed that nothing would ever change in that utopia.

How  _ wrong _ they were.

What at first seemed like a chain of unrelated incidents very soon took on a catastrophic scale. No one was talking about it at first, but everyone felt it. The end.  _ Their _ end. With every passing day the nature of their star was twisting more and more, the world was dying all at once, and Dionysus knew that every attempt to fix it was failing, one after another and no one had any idea what caused all that mess from the beginning.

He shook his head and brushed away a strand of his hair which was covering his vision. The schematics on the paper in front of him were making no sense at all, no matter how much he tried to make them work. He could hear Hades in the next room groaning in disappointment at his own work.

“This is madness… absolute madness…”

Dio shook his head and wondered what angers his brother more – the fear for the fate of their star or his own shameful inability to change it. Not like the reason was important, though…

He sighed and got up from his seat, stretching for a moment. It’s not good. He can’t think of anything that will help them to stop the Calamity, so his best course of action would be to help someone who  _ could _ .

He quickly glanced into the room where Hades was working and frowned at the sight of his brother sitting behind his table with both his hands dug deep into his scalp, slightly pulling at silver-white locks. Hades looked  _ desperate _ , and seeing him like that was painful. So Dionysus quietly walked into the kitchen, trying to not break Hades’ focus yet.

Now, what to do… He knew that in his current state his brother wouldn’t even look at a complicated meal, so he had to prepare some simple snacks. Some cheese and bread, and maybe an egg or two, and a bit of bacon. And, of course, coffee!

A sound from outside caught his attention and he moved closer to the window to see what was going on. People were arguing outside, among them Lahabrea from the Convocation of Fourteen, who was very heatedly explaining something to a couple of other white masks. After a few more expressive gestures he broke from the group and headed directly to Hades’ house, making Dio sigh sadly. The last thing they needed was  _ a guest _ .

Still he snapped his fingers, summoning his casual white mask and putting it on, and then dutifully headed to the front door and opened it even before Lahabrea could knock. The man stared at him, his gaze unreadable behind the red mask. After a moment of silence he coughed, clearing his throat and nodded in a greeting.

“Good day to you, Dionysus… as good as any day now can be. I assume Emet-Selch is at home?”

“It’s a pleasure to see you, honorable Lahabrea. My brother is working in his room, please, come in and let me invite him. I assume, you have important news to share…”

“Important, indeed…” Lahabrea stepped into the house, while Dio hurried to his brother’s room.

There he stood in the doorway for a few moments, looking at Hades, all tired and stressed, before stepping closer and gently placing his hands on the older man’s shoulders.

“Hades,” Dionysus softly called, and his elder brother looked up at him. For a moment he couldn’t focus his gaze, then blinked and tried to smile.

“Dio? I am sorry, I was too lost in those schematics—“

“Honorable Lahabrea came for a visit, brother. I think he has something important to share. Would you like me to bring you both some coffee and snacks to the small conference room? And before you decline, I must say that you look like you’re  _ starving _ .”

Hades just sighed and raised his hands in a defensive manner.

“All right, all right, you are completely correct. Some coffee would be nice, but let us not make our guest wait for too long; what kind of hosts it will make us, right?”

Dionysus nodded and picked up the red mask of Emet-Selch, offering it to him with a smile. “Don’t forget this. We won’t want to cause a scandal, right?”

His brother smiled back sheepishly – a rare expression on his face - and followed him into the guest room. He greeted Lahabrea while Dio went into the kitchen again and returned to preparing coffee and snacks. They had a guest now, so something more decent was in order. Maybe some fruits…

To be honest, culinary creation magic never was his strongest ability, which was another reason he focused on more simple meals. Humming a soft tune he carefully set food on the plates, decorating it with parts of edible plants and flowers. If he focuses on that simple, routine task he can feel calm washing over his whole being.  _ That _ was how things should be. Lazy, quiet and simple. Comfortable life in the most grand city on their planet. A city which they shared with intelligent and kind people. The place which was their home for eons…

_ Home _ which now was at risk of disappearing, if they fail to protect it.

Dionysus blinked, staring at the withered leaf squeezed between his fingers. Slowly, he put it aside and created another one to place on top of the slice of cheese (because green and yellow look so good together). He wanted to take the plates and head to the guest room, but noticed that his hands were still shaking. It took him a moment and a couple of breath exercises to calm down. Everything will be alright.  _ Everything _ .

He could hear the voices echoing through the hall as he walked towards the guest room. Both Convocation members sounded excited, but there was a hint of doubt in Hades’ voice. Dio stopped, unsure if coming in now would be an appropriate moment, but it seemed like his brother noticed his presence and called for him from the room.

“I would like you to take a look at this,” Emet-Selch said, ignoring the snacks and coffee which were set on a table in front of him, and passed some documents to Dionysus. “What do you think?”

Carefully the younger man read through the offered concepts, paying attention to the tiniest details while his brother and their guest were silently drinking coffee, not interrupting his focus. Finally Dionysus looked up; blankly staring at the wall for a few moments, then tilted his head slightly and returned the documents to Emet-Selch.

“That… might work,” he said slowly. “Considering none of us have provided a better concept yet. But…”

“But?” He could almost see Lahabrea raising his eyebrow behind the mask.

“But… it looks terribly  _ dangerous _ .” Dionysus folded his arms thoughtfully. “Not only that a creation on such a scale requires an  _ unthinkable _ amount of power, which already is a big problem, but also there is no way to guarantee that all the creators will focus entirely on the concept and won’t have any stray thoughts at the most unsuitable moment. If even a tiny little thing goes wrong – the consequences will be  _ unpredictable _ .”

Hades nodded to that and looked at the papers in his hands once again. “That is exactly what I am worried about, especially since you are right, we can’t control people’s minds to make sure that everything goes according to plan…” He frowned. “And yet, I assume that is not a  _ final _ concept, am I right?”

“Ah, of course not,” Lahabrea nodded to that and started gathering the documents. “It is – how to put it – the last hope in the case that nothing else will work. We, after all, still have some time to think of another concept.”

“I heard that a lot of other cities already have fallen,” Dionysus asked carefully, not sure that he wants to hear the answer to his question. “How soon… do you think it will reach  _ us _ ?”

There was silence for a moment. Two brothers were staring at their guest intently, while he was re-arranging the papers one more time. Finally Lahabrea spoke again, and there was bitterness in his words.

“We are… not really sure. We only know that the phenomenon is  _ spreading _ , and if it will continue with the same pace – it will reach us in a year. Maybe two, but no longer.”

Dionysus couldn’t hold a quiet gasp while his brother cursed under his breath.

“ _ Just a year _ ? I had no idea it is spreading that fast.” Emet-Selch got up from his seat and nodded his head in a polite bow. “We need to hurry if we want to find another solution which will stop us from addressing that concept of yours.”

So they said their goodbyes and Lahabrea left. Hades waited until the door behind their guest softly locked and let out a tired sigh, slipping down his red mask.

“Damn it all. Just a year. We may not be fast enough, and if we don’t think of something,  _ anything _ before it reaches us… I really don’t want to participate in creating that  _ thing _ , and yet if it will end up as our only choice… No, we still can’t. We need to consider the possible consequences, and besides—“

Dionysus pulled off his own mask and carefully wrapped his arms around Hades’ torso from behind. “Brother, please,  _ calm down _ . We still have time. We still can come up with a better solution.  _ You _ can do it. And I will help. And I am sure the Convocation will help if we provide them with a solid concept.”

Hades let out a sigh. “You are probably right. It is too early to panic.”

“Indeed. I think you need some rest, brother. The lack of sleep is getting to you, and no matter how tough you are you still get tired, you know? And then it affects you and stops you from thinking calmly and seeing the situation properly. Please, get some sleep today, alright? I will clean your room. Maybe a bath will be good too. For how long now, have you not allowed yourself relax? A month? Or two?”

Finally his persuasion had an effect and Hades left the guest room. Dio watched him with a small frown and let out a heavy sigh. Sometimes… sometimes he  _ hated _ that his brother had accepted the position of Emet-Selch. The amount of work he was getting increased tenfold, and the amount of sleep he could afford was cut to dangerous levels often enough to make his younger brother worried.  _ Of course _ , people of their star weren’t actually getting ‘sick’ unlike smaller creatures, but still they could experience aether exhaustion which also wasn’t an entirely healthy state.

Besides, if Hades didn’t accept the title, maybe he could feel at least a bit less responsible for everything that was happening around them and would have more relaxed evenings… Ah, but that was a clumsy attempt to lie to himself. Dio knew too well that even without a seat in Convocation his brother would be looking for a solution, but would get more frustrated over it without resources which his current position could provide him.

Finally he shook his head and turned his attention to the half-full dishes on the table. He still needed to deal with those, and a few gestures and a snap of his fingers made all of it return to the simple aether: when you can create things on a daily basis there is no need to  _ wash _ your plates after every meal.

Next on the list was Hades’ room. On his way there Dionysus heard the sound of running water in the bathroom and nodded to himself, glad that his brother finally followed his advice. While usually calm and collected Hades had a terrible habit of forgetting to take care of himself. More often than the honorable Emet-Selch would like to admit, he needed to be reminded to eat and sleep, occasionally even shower. Too devoted to his work, he was prone to forgetting everyone and everything for days, if not for months or years.

But in contrast to that, as Dio noted to himself, his room usually was rather clean. So all that he could do now was dutifully gather and rearrange all the papers on Hades’ table, so when his brother returned to work everything would be ready and waiting for him.

Still… He glanced at some of Hades’ blueprints and shook his head. None of those looked stable enough to stop the looming cataclysm. They will need to work harder if they don’t want to have to use Lahabrea’s concept.

“Zodiark” he called it. A tool which was supposed to re-write the very laws of their star. Which sounded… ominous by itself. Who could predict how exactly it will affect their planet, and won’t it be even more destructive than the current situation? Dionysus had to suppress a shiver and hurried out of the room. Away, away with all the gloomy thoughts! That won’t work at all…

He stopped only when reached the small garden behind their house. Spreading his arms Dionysus fell onto the ground, burying his face in the grass and inhaling deeply and shutting his eyes tightly. Calm. That was his place, and his alone, even Hades rarely came here, and usually only to check on Dio’s new creations.

Little vines reached for him and curiously tugged at his robes, making him chuckle softly. He rolled onto his back and stared at the sky. It was night already, and the stars were glittering through the tree branches hanging over him. Dionysus raised his hands and focused - and the branches  _ spread _ , revealing the clear night sky to his eyes. For his lack of connection to Underworld which was blooming strongly within his older brother, Dio had other talents: flowers and trees always listened to him, and most of his creations were one way or another related to the plants. 

Dio closed his eyes and let the tiredness finally overtake him. Tomorrow will be a new day. Tomorrow they will make things better and find a solution to whatever this calamity is. Tomorrow--

* * *

  
The world was  _ falling apart _ .


	2. Tomorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes everything goes wrong...

Twenty one.

That was the amount of shields Hades placed on their house to protect it from all the destruction happening around. That supposedly should be enough to keep everything inside safe until the Convocation stops the Doom, or at least minimizes the damage. The problem was in the fact that Dionysus wasn’t at home.

A distant scream startled him and he nearly dropped the flower pot he was carrying. A rare, helpless thing which he just  _ had  _ to save from Akademia’s garden before it got destroyed. A reckless act, and he probably should have done it earlier. Honestly, he should have done  _ a lot _ of things earlier. But this… Dionysus glanced down at the plant he was hugging tightly: small, thorny and purplish – most people wouldn’t even get close to it for its poisonous look, but for Dio any plant was precious.

…not like Hades would accept such an explanation if he had seen his little brother on the streets, far away from the semblance of safety which their house could provide.

Something cracked nearby and the part of the building to the left from him started falling apart. Dionysus hurried away, but a pained cry coming from the ruins made him stop again. Quickly he looked around, trying to find whoever needed his help, and then nearly jumped when a hand gripped his ankle tightly. He looked down and his eyes widened in shock at the sight of an Amaurotine in burnt robes, who was clinging to him.

“H-help..” A rasped cry escaped from the wounded Amaurotine’s lips, but Dionysus only gulped nervously and shook his head slowly. He couldn’t help – the person’s whole lower half was buried under the debris, and there was no way for him to move it by himself, not when everything around them was screaming and burning…

The world was  _ falling apart _ .

* * *

It took them a bit of time to figure out what the sudden monstrous creations were. By that time it was already known that Amaurot was the last city to stay on the whole star, and that itself was enough reason to panic. The annoying, painful keening which at first was merely a whisper somewhere in the back of one’s mind soon became so loud that it couldn’t be ignored anymore. People were scared, tired and slowly driven mad by it. Even usually collected Convocation members looked nervous and helpless, unable to find a way to stop it.

That night when the first abomination manifested in their house, Dionysus had a nightmare. He tossed, turned, and sweated in his bed, until finally he woke up with a scream – only to be met by a dead unmoving gaze of creature sitting on his bed. For a long moment he was staring at it, unable to move or even turn his eyes away. And then the creature was screeching in pain as Hades, who rushed at the screams into his brother’s room, got it from behind, destroying and returning it back to the ambient aether. They stood awake till the morning, clinging to each other as Dio was trying to calm down and ignore the thoughts of how many of their people met their death like that – sleeping in their beds and devoured by the monsters created by their own nightmares.

Several days later a hard decision was made and the Convocation started preparations for summoning a  _ thing _ they were calling “Zodiark”, a tool which should be able to change the very laws of reality and stop the impending End.

Dionysus didn’t like it, most of all because so many people who they knew and liked listed themselves as willing sacrifices to provide enough aether for such a grand creation. But it couldn’t be helped. No matter how he and Hades tried, no other solution was found, and the loud keening messing with the minds of the people was becoming nearly unbearable. And everything was only getting  _ worse _ .

More abominations were appearing on the city streets, even during the day, hunting down anyone they could find and ignoring any attempts to dissipate them. The meteors were falling from the sky, occasionally hitting a building and starting a fire, and with every day they were multiplying. The first shield was set around their house after such a meteor broke one of Dio’s favorite trees in their garden, and Hades only kept adding more and more layers of protection to let them feel at least a semblance of safety.

They slept in turns, protecting each other during their rest, and Dio  _ hated _ himself when he realized that Hades let him sleep for a few more bells than himself. His brother, on the other hand, was waking up right in time without any alarms, but no matter how hard Dionysus tried he couldn’t do the same. Eventually he figured out that Hades probably just used sleep spells on him, but when he confronted him about that his brother just smiled sadly and shrugged.

And yet even such precautionary measures didn’t save them from facing several more abominations born of their fears, but thankfully they managed to deal with them without getting hurt too much.

Meanwhile, the day of the summoning was getting closer…

* * *

Dio waited silently until the wounded Amaurotine’s pained groans finally silenced and his soul departed from his vessel. He couldn’t save him, so he stayed there till the end – even with everything around them burning and falling into pieces. Once the grip of other’s hand on his ankle weakened Dionysus offered him a short sad nod and continued on his way, barely holding back tears.

It was getting harder to avoid the destruction, and more than once he nearly fell when a huge chasm was opening almost under his feet. At least he was lucky enough so far and managed to avoid the creatures lurking nearby. He knew that if he bumped into any one of them, he wouldn’t stand a chance. And yet, lucky or not - Dio couldn’t allow himself to linger, so he just ran and tried to ignore the groans and screams surrounding him, inseverable from the loud keening echoing in his head. But he was getting closer; he almost reached their house, almost there—

His leg got caught in another gap on the ground and with a surprised yelp he fell flat on his face, only at the last moment curling around the precious pot in an attempt to protect the plant, if not his own face. He wasn’t successful – the pot broke in half, together with the white mask which slipped from his face. Right afterwards, something loudly crashed into the barriers surrounding his house. Dionysus raised his head from the ground and with growing horror watched as the barrier struggled to hold the meteors for a moment or two – and then  _ cracked _ , letting the raging balls of fire fall onto their home.

“No.. no no no no…” He whispered, his voice trembling and tears running down his face. “ _ Please _ …”

Slowly he got up to his feet only to fall down to his knees a moment later. Sobbing and shaking he carefully picked up the broken mask and froze, finally realizing what would happen  _ to him _ if he followed Hades’ instructions and stayed at home. He turned his gaze to the dying plant on the ground. He had forgotten about it, remembering only a couple bells ago, and rushed out of their house to pick the flower from Akademia… and that, apparently, had saved him.

“Thank y—“

Suddenly a wave of dark aspected aether flashed through the air, ruffling his hair and touching everything on its way. Dio felt dizzy for a moment, and then blinked in utter surprise.

The keening was  _ no more _ .

* * *

“Will it really work?” Dionysus asked, looking over Emet-Selch’s shoulder at the blueprints he was holding in his hands. “I don’t like it. I still think it’s too risky, but if you are absolutely sure that it will work…”

Hades sighed and put the documents aside, his hands raised to idly rub his temples.

“I can’t say for sure, but it is, as Lahabrea once called it, our  _ last hope _ . We… can’t do anything else. We tried whatever we could think of, but nothing worked.  _ Nothing _ . We can’t even get close to finding out the nature of that horrible phenomenon.”

“It’s like the planet itself got sick…” Dio murmured softly and shook his head. “Then do it. But please.  _ Please _ , be careful, will you?”

His brother was quiet for some time, then spoke again.

“That’s not all. The worst part is the aether source for that creation. We tried a lot of different options, but none of them would give us enough. So… we had to agree that the only one source that will work for something that big—“

“…are people’s aether,” Dionysus finished for him, and Hades looked up at his brother’s face. Dio noticed how shocked, both guilty and  _ ashamed, _ his brother looks, so he only offered him a gentle smile. “I suspected that it may be the only possible way since the very day when Lahabrea showed us this concept in our house. That was partly the reason why I didn’t like it then, and still don’t like it now. But… you won’t  _ force _ anyone into it, surely?”

“We would never dare to.” Hades closed his eyes. “Everyone… who will serve as a source for Zodiark’s creation is going to do it on their own free volition. We already have some people listed up for that, and we’re getting more. Most of them are people who already lost everyone precious to them in that chaos. Some… are those who just want to protect their loved ones.”

“Did you try to list yourself?”

Hades paled and slowly nodded unable to look at his brother’s face.

“I… yes. But then I realized that if  _ I _ do it, you will  _ follow _ me, and I would never want such an end for you. I wouldn’t want for you to get involved in it in any way at all.”

“I would, yes,” Dio said simply, and they went silent again.

“May I… may I take a look at that list if you have it?” Dio finally asked hesitatingly. “I would really like to know if there are… people whom we know. So I could at least say my goodbyes to them.”

Emet-Selch only nodded shortly and shuffled through his papers, finally pulling out a list of names and handing it over to his brother. Dionysus thanked him quietly and retreated to the nearest couch where he could carefully read through the list. Several minutes later though he quickly got up and rushed out of the room, ignoring the papers scattering around the couch. Hades stared at the door for a moment and then left his own armchair to gather the documents from the floor. His eyes widened as he noticed a familiar name listed among the other willing sacrifices.

_ Hythlodaeus. _

* * *

“Dio! Dionysus! Dio, what are you  _ doing _ here?!”

Someone was calling for him, and when he finally looked up from the broken pot his gaze fell on a familiar figure standing in front of him.

“…Hyth.”

The older man carefully helped him to get up and brushed the dust and dirt from his robes.

“There. Are you hurt? I’m sorry; I saw what happened to your house. What a miracle that you weren’t inside—“

Hythlodaeus smiled at him, trying to hide his worry. His own face was bruised and his mask barely holding in place, black robes burned in several places and covered in dust and ashes. Dionysus noticed all that, but before he could reply to his friend something else caught his attention.

He could feel how the world around them is  _ changing. _ Slowly, painfully, but inevitably. The process surely would take some time, but he could taste the first results in the air, literally. Dio stared at Hythlodaeus and wanted to ask the man if he also felt it – but instead only said:

”Convocation.  _ Hades. _ ”

Hythlodaeus frowned under his mask and nodded. He pulled the halves of Dio’s mask out of his grasp.

“There, let me fix it. And then we can go and find him.”

Dio watched him press the halves of the mask together and gently brush a finger over the crack… but nothing happened. Hyth looked at it for a moment then tried again – with the same result.

“Odd… I wonder if it’s all the stress finally getting to me…”

Dionysus wasn’t listening to him. He had no time to care about decency and hiding his face, or checking his leg, which still hurt. Slowly but vigorously he headed in the direction of the Capitol without even waiting for Hythlodaeus to follow him. The older man only let out a sigh and hurried after him, and they continued their way together.

The streets of Amaurot were unusually quiet, not counting the painful groans piercing the silence here and there. The mind-breaking keening that was driving everyone insane for nearly a year had finally stopped, but it would take some time for people to get used to it. There also were no signs of the horrible monsters which just a quarter of bell ago were feasting on people’s flesh and aether.

They turned the corner and both stopped, staring in a mix of awe and caution at the huge purple crystal lazily floating in the air over the roof of the Capitol. It was the center of the growing changes, and yet Dionysus for a moment thought that there was something  _ ominous _ in it’s color. But before he could ask Hythlodaeus, the doors of the Capitol swung open and Convocation members started walking out. They were staggering and looking deadly tired, most likely all suffering from extreme aether exhaustion. And yet even from such distance Dio and Hyth could see that all of them were  _ excited _ .

One figure stepped aside from the group and moved towards them - Emet-Selch. He was slouching, barely holding on his feet, and still he was smiling.

“We  _ did _ it! It worked! It will still take a bit of time, but the star is saved!”

He wrapped his arms around both his brother and his best friend, pulling them in a clumsy hug which looked more like an attempt to find support for his weakened body.

“Zodiark was an absolute success, He saved us all…”

It took them a moment to realize that he actually have fallen asleep, so Hythlodaeus carefully pulled him up onto his shoulder and smiled sheepishly.

“Well, it seems like maybe we can finally relax, for at least a moment. I don’t think the honorable Emet-Selch will be able to function again anytime soon, and since your house is… uummm… certainly not in the best condition, I invite you both to my place. Surprisingly, it’s still intact. So shall we?”

Dionysus nodded to him silently, more focused on trying to figure out what is it that worries him so much about Hades. Unlike his brother, he never could tell souls apart, but even he could feel that something was  _ horribly wrong _ . A quick glance at Hythlodaeus confirmed his worries: the manner in which their friend tightened his lips for a moment was speaking of the concern he was trying to hide.

Surviving people started gathering around Convocation members, helping them out and listening to their explanations of the situation. The giant crystal over the Capitol was slowly fading away, and yet Dio still could feel its presence was only getting stronger. He shook his head, casting the unnecessary thoughts away. He had a brother to take care of and a lot of other things to think about, like how to fix their house and if at least a tiny part of his garden stayed untouched… But Hades first of all.

He hurried after Hythlodaeus, trying to convince himself that now things would return to normal. Now that the keening and terminus creatures were gone, everything surely will get better.

What else could go wrong after all? The worst was already behind…


End file.
